Robert Reich on Corporations

Former Secretary of Labor; Democratic Challenger MA Governor

Hedge-funds receive $1B each in tax loopholes

The latest tax-reform bills are far from perfect--they leave open a number of loopholes and would only recoup a very small fraction of the $100 billion that corporations and wealthy individuals are siphoning off the U.S. Treasury.
But the bills would end one more egregious example of the tax policy double standard, finally forcing hedge-fund managers to pay taxes at the same rate as everybody else.
As the law stands now, their income is considered "carried interest" and is accordingly taxed at the capital gain rate of 15 percent.

According to former labor secretary Robert Reich, in 2009 "the 25 most successful hedge-fund managers earned a billion
dollars each." The top earner clocked in at $4 billion. Closing this outrageous loophole would bring in close to $20 billion in revenue--money desperately needed at a time when teachers and nurses and firemen are being laid off all around the country.